The Trump team's impeachment rebuttal includes Madonna's thoughts on blowing up the White House

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Brendan Morrow
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Former President Donald Trump's impeachment team on Friday claimed Democrats are the ones guilty of violent rhetoric, showing clips of prominent politicians — and of Madonna.

Throughout their presentation in his impeachment trial, Trump's defense team played videos and read quotes from Democrats they argued have engaged in violent and inflammatory rhetoric, as Trump faces charges of inciting violence among his supporters. The highlights included President Biden saying he'd "beat the hell" out of Trump if they were in high school and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) saying there "needs to be unrest in the streets."

But also thrown in were comments from some non-politicians like Madonna, who is seen in one clip saying she's "thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House" following Trump's election. Another comment from Johnny Depp asking "when was the last time an actor assassinated a president" was included, as well.

"I am not showing you this video as some excuse for Mr. Trump's speech," attorney Michael van der Veen said before playing one of the star-studded montages. "This is not whataboutism. I am showing you this to make the point that all political speech must be protected."

Van der Veen argued that Trump "did not engage in any language of incitement" but that "there are numerous officials in Washington who have indeed used profoundly reckless, dangerous, and inflammatory rhetoric in recent years." He also made the case that Trump's speech was protected by the First Amendment.

The clip of Madonna came from a 2017 Women's March, although she immediately followed up her comment about blowing up the White House by adding, "I know that this won't change anything." She later said the remarks were taken out of context and insisted "I do not promote violence."

More stories from theweek.com
Impeachment isn't what will hurt Trump most
Mike Pence's 'nuclear football' was also apparently at risk during the Capitol siege
Trump will be convicted by history, right?

Latest Stories

  • Trump lawyer struggles to answer key questions from Republican senators

    A lawyer representing Donald Trump at the former president's Senate impeachment trial struggled Friday to answer pointed questions asked by Republican senators.

  • Black physician's COVID-19 death highlights 'horrific' history of medical racism

    Dr. Susan Moore, a physician battling COVID-19, documented what she described as poor and hostile treatment she received at an Indiana hospital because she was a Black woman. Her death highlighted an issue that’s persisted among medical professionals since as early as the era of slavery.

  • Ivanka brought Trump and Pence together for ‘uncomfortable’ meeting after Capitol riot

    The president didn’t call to check on the vice-president during the attack

  • Russia says it would be ready to cut EU ties if hit with painful sanctions

    Russia said on Friday it would be ready to sever ties with the European Union if the bloc hit it with painful economic sanctions, a statement that Germany described as disconcerting and incomprehensible. Ties between Russia and the West, already at post-Cold War lows, have come under renewed pressure over the arrest and jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Three European diplomats told Reuters on Thursday the EU was likely to impose travel bans and asset freezes on allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, possibly as soon as this month.

  • 12 Best Bedding Sets for Kids

    Sweet dreams are made of theseOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Rittenhouse, accused of violating bond, to go before judge

    An Illinois 18-year-old charged with killing two people during street protests in Kenosha, Wis., last summer will face a judge on Thursday because prosecutors are asking that he be re-arrested.

  • Prominent evangelical leader Ravi Zacharias engaged in sexual misconduct, his ministry reports

    Ravi Zacharias, a prominent evangelical Christian leader and author who died of cancer last May at age 74, led a double life of coerced sexual gratification from massage therapists, his organization, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM), said Thursday. RZIM released an independent report by the Atlanta law firm Miller & Martin detailing Zacharias' transgressions, including sexual misconduct and rape allegations from more than a dozen massage therapists and the discovery of about 200 photos of young women on his phones, some of them nude selfies. The board of RZIM, which is led by Zacharias' daughter, said it was "shocked and grieved by Ravi's actions," and apologized to his victims: "Words cannot come close to expressing the sorrow that we feel for what you have been through or the gratitude we feel for the bravery with which you have responded." RZIM denied any sexual misconduct by its founder last fall, and Zacharias had sued one accuser for extortion before he died. Most of the women Miller & Martin interviewed said that during massages, Zacharias would grab their breasts or genitals and ask for sexual gratification. Investigators found more than 200 other massage therapists listed in his phones, many of them in Asia. He spent months at a pair of apartments he owned in Bangkok, and the investigators found 2016 texts showing that Zacharias "spent his days writing and his nights receiving massages" there. The woman who accused Zacharias of rape said that after he "arranged for the ministry to provide her with financial support, he required sex from her," then "made her pray with him to thank God for the 'opportunity' they both received." The woman told investigators that Zacharias "called her his 'reward' for living a life of service to God," and "said he warned her not ever to speak out against him or she would be responsible for the 'millions of souls' whose salvation would be lost if his reputation was damaged." Zacharias, born in India and raised in Canada, first rose to prominence preaching at a 1983 conference organized by Rev. Billy Graham. He went on to write about two dozen books and had a radio show. His funeral in August was attended by then-Vice President Mike Pence, NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, and other boldface names. "In Ravi Zacharias, God gave us the greatest Christian apologist of this century," Pence said at the funeral. "He was the C.S. Lewis of our day." More stories from theweek.comImpeachment isn't what will hurt Trump mostMike Pence's 'nuclear football' was also apparently at risk during the Capitol siegeTrump will be convicted by history, right?

  • Spokesman: Muslim youth kills Ahmadi physician in Pakistan

    A Pakistani Muslim youth shot and killed an Ahmadi homeopathic doctor at his clinic in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Thursday, the police and a spokesman for the minority group said. The attacker on Dr. Abdul Qadir, 65, was immediately caught by residents and handed over to the local police. Saleem Uddin, a spokesman for Ahmadi community, released a statement condemning the attack and saying that members of their community were being constantly targeted because of their faith.

  • Impeachment trial – live: Stunning phone call Trump held with McCarthy during Capitol riot revealed

    Follow for all the latest news from Congress, the White House and Mar-a-Lago

  • Warnock Under Investigation for Role in Stacey Abrams’ Voter Registration Org

    Senator Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) is under investigation for his involvement in the New Georgia Project, a voter registration organization founded by Stacey Abrams, which officials say failed to follow state election deadlines in 2019. The Georgia State Election Board voted 3-0 Wednesday to launch an investigation into Warnock’s time as chairman of the board for the New Georgia Project in 2019, when officials say the group violated state election rules that require voting registration organizations to submit completed voter application within ten days after they are received from the voter. Officials say the New Georgia Project submitted 1,268 applications to the Gwinnett County elections office after the ten-day deadline in 2019. The board will refer the investigation to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican. The only Democrat on the board, as well as Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, abstained from the vote. Nse Ufot, the CEO of New Georgia Project, pushed back against the claims in a statement, saying the board meeting was “the first time we heard about the allegations regarding NGP’s important voter registration work from 2019.” “We have not received any information on this matter from the Secretary or any other Georgia official,” Ufot said. In December, Raffensperger announced an investigation into the New Georgia Project and other voter registration groups, alleging that they had “sought to register ineligible, out-of-state, or deceased voters.” Warnock resigned from the New Georgia Project on January 28, 2020. Abrams founded the organization in 2014 and later made an unsuccessful bid for Georgia governor, losing by roughly 55,000 votes to Governor Brian Kemp. She claimed that Kemp, who was then- Georgia secretary of state, had won thanks to voter suppression efforts he implemented during his time in office, such as purging voter roles.

  • British man freed in Indonesia after serving sentence for death of policeman

    A British man jailed for his role in the death of an Indonesian policeman in 2016 on a beach in Bali was released on Thursday after serving his sentence. David Taylor, 38, was jailed in March 2017 together with his Australian girlfriend, Sara Connor, over the death of traffic policeman Wayan Sudarsa, whose body was found on the island's popular Kuta beach with neck and head wounds. Taylor left Bali's Kerobokan jail dressed in a black T-shirt and with dark glasses and a mask.

  • White House aide suspended for threatening reporter

    White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo has been suspended for a week without pay after he reportedly issued a sexist and profane threat to a journalist seeking to cover his relationship with another reporter. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that Ducklo's conduct was “completely unacceptable.” Psaki said while she had not spoken about the incident with President Joe Biden, Ducklo and aides “at the highest levels” of the White House’s communications team had apologized for the incident.

  • Sen. Kyrsten Sinema effectively vetoes the Democrats' $15 minimum wage stimulus push

    Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D), the senior senator from Arizona, voted with her caucus to advance a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan that can pass with a party-line vote in the 50-50 Senate. But she won't support adding a federal minimum wage hike to the package, she tells Politico, effectively killing the push to include a $15 minimum wage in the legislation. That's one reason that Sinema, Politico said in its Friday profile, is "the most influential Democrat you never hear from." "What's important is whether or not it's directly related to short-term COVID relief, and if it's not, then I am not going to support it in this legislation," Sinema told Politico this week. "The minimum wage provision is not appropriate for the reconciliation process. It is not a budget item. And it shouldn't be in there." That goes for other Democratic wish-list items ruled out of bounds for budget reconciliation by the Senate parliamentarian. "There is no instance in which I would overrule a parliamentarian's decision," she said. Like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), who you do hear from, Sinema won't vote to eliminate the filibuster. In fact, she told Politico, "I want to restore the 60-vote threshold for all elements of the Senate's work." Sinema's frequent "breaks with her liberal colleagues are both a reflection of her state, which she won by a narrow margin in 2018, and her temperament," plus the fact that after years in Arizona's state legislature and U.S. Senate, she "has literally never served in the majority before — so she feels the minority's pain," Politico reports. Her Democratic colleagues "sense that Sinema is a team player regardless of her unique views," but "she still keeps Republicans at least as close as members of her own party," and she listens more than talks, Politico reports. You can read more about "one of the most quirky and interesting members of the stodgy Senate" — including her colorful wigs, deep purple and leopard print office decor, and friendship with Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) — at Politico. More stories from theweek.comImpeachment isn't what will hurt Trump mostMike Pence's 'nuclear football' was also apparently at risk during the Capitol siegeTrump will be convicted by history, right?

  • Josh Hawley's wife pens Fox News editorial detailing protests, death threats over husband's election response

    Ms Hawley called the protest 'an assault' on her home, though there was no damage and no violence occurred

  • Ethiopia confirms widespread rape in conflict-hit north

    Scores of women have been raped in Ethiopia's northerly Tigray region, authorities have confirmed, in the chaotic aftermath of an armed conflict last year that ousted the local ruling party. "We have received the report back from our Taskforce team on the ground in the Tigray region, they have unfortunately established rape has taken place conclusively and without a doubt," Ethiopian Women's Minister Filsan Abdullahi tweeted late on Thursday. Though witnesses, medics and aid workers had spoken of widespread sexual abuse since fighting began in November, Filsan's comments were the first confirmation by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government.

  • Alabama seeks to be 1st state to execute an inmate this year

    Alabama would be the first state to carry out an execution this year if allowed to proceed with plans to put an inmate to death late Thursday for the shotgun slaying of a woman decades ago. It was unclear if the scheduled execution of Willie B. Smith III would proceed late Thursday night. The state faces a midnight deadline to administer the death penalty, but around 10 p.m. CDT the U.S. Supreme Court had not ruled on the state's request to lift a lower court stay and injunction blocking the execution from taking place.

  • Trump's lawyers claim he never knew Pence was in danger. A Republican senator has said otherwise.

    Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have contradicted a Republican senator's account of what happened in the Senate chamber during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. After lawyers for Trump finished their defense of his impeachment for inciting the insurrection, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) questioned the timing of Trump's "disparaging tweet" about Pence during the attack. At 2:24 p.m., 11 minutes after Pence was escorted from the chamber as Trump backers stormed the building, Trump tweeted that Pence "didn't have the courage to do what he should've done" and somehow object to the election results. Despite the implication of the certification process already being over (it wasn't), Trump's lawyers said he had not been informed Pence was in danger when it happened. Question from @SenatorRomney: "When President Trump sent the disparaging tweet at 2:24pm regarding Vice President Pence, was he aware that the Vice President had been removed from the Senate by the Secret Service for his safety?" Michael van der Veen: "The answer is no." pic.twitter.com/3eMubOOt3H — CSPAN (@cspan) February 12, 2021 But Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) gave a different story Wednesday night. While he already disclosed that he was on the phone with Trump when the attackers started getting into the Capitol, Tuberville specified Wednesday that he was talking to Trump went Pence was escorted from the Senate. "I said 'Mr. President, they just took the vice president out, I've got to go,'" Tuberville recalled, suggesting Trump knew Pence was in danger when he sent the tweet. More stories from theweek.comImpeachment isn't what will hurt Trump mostMike Pence's 'nuclear football' was also apparently at risk during the Capitol siegeTrump will be convicted by history, right?

  • Father of child with Down’s syndrome confronts Marjorie Taylor Greene over disabled slur at GOP meeting

    Georgia congresswoman ‘doesn't represent my son or my family’, says Republican after exchange

  • A “love project” to counter religious stereotypes in India

    As the ruling Hindu-based party passes laws banning interfaith marriage, couples of differing faiths speak out in favor of true marriage.

  • At least 5 dead in massive crash on icy Texas interstate

    At least five people were killed and dozens injured Thursday in a massive crash involving 75 to 100 vehicles on an icy Texas interstate, police said, as a winter storm dropped freezing rain, sleet and snow on parts of the U.S.